Siege of Noli (1494)

The Siege of Noli (1494) occurred during the Italian War of 1494-98, when the French army of Robert de La Marck conquered the Italian city-state of Noli on the coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea. The French overcame stiff resistance and managed to secure Noli as another base.

The city-state of Noli was vital in that it controlled some vital Mediterranean trade routes, and because it was allied to the Republic of Genoa. The French general Robert de La Marck's army of 706 troops was sent to capture Noli from its republican government, and it laid siege to the city with battering rams, as the gates were too strong to breach with organ guns. The defenders of Noli found themselves overwhelmed by the fierce French soldiers, and they were forced to surrender. The French entrance into the city was accompanied by the massacre of 813 Nolese civilians and the looting of 2,428 guilders from the city's coffers, and Noli was incorporated into the Kingdom of France.